


If I Could

by ImpossibleSociety



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-16 13:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2270679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpossibleSociety/pseuds/ImpossibleSociety
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clary Fray has spent the past two years with her father Valentine. But now she's back , better than ever, but with an overprotective brother named Jonathan and his soccer team, things might not go as they were planned. AH/AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected

**CPOV**

Clary felt something warm and sticky dripping from her fiery hair and down her face. Her breathing was becoming rapid and shallow, her hands clenched into fists and her eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to kill you," the words left her mouth in a snarl, not bothering to even turn around. By that point her breathing was ragged, as if she were an asthmatic on the verge of an attack.

There was a quiet chuckle behind her. "Sure you are. Go on; try it. I bet you couldn't even touch me before-agh!" His taunting was cut short when Clary spun and pounced on him, knocking him flat on his back. She pinned his arms above his head and looked down at her brother with mix of both smugness and loving irritation etched across her face.

"I hate you." Just to show how much she meant it, she tilted her head forward. The syrup that Jon had just poured on her head inched its way down her scalp and landed with a soft patter directly onto his cheek. She couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction that coursed through her when she saw his look of disgust. Fighting to hold back her laughter, she grinned.

"Gross, Clary!" Jon managed to squirm his way out of her grasp and scramble up to her feet. "You're evil, you know," he said, admonishing her with a wag of his finger.

"Please. Me? I'm not the one who poured syrup onto their assimilating sibling," Clary retorted, accentuating her statement with a roll of her eyes.

"Assimilating? Really? What in God's name has dear old dad done to you?" Jonathan looked his sister with an expression of mock horror. "You've gone missing for two years and all of a sudden you're like a real lady." At this his dark eyes softened and met her green ones. Smiling wistfully, he pulled her into a gentle hug.

Clary melted into him, tears pricking in her eyes before she pulled back and punched him lightly in the arm. "Moron," she said, without any antagonism in her voice. With a final playful shove, she trudged up the marble steps in their house towards the shower. She could hear Jonathan laughing behind her.

Walking into the gilded bathroom, Clary stripped off her shirt and smiled faintly to herself. Shaking her head, she remembered how excited Jon was when she had arrived back home. Their father Valentine and mother Jocelyn had gotten their divorce finalized three years ago and Valentine wanted time to spend with his daughter. So off she went to live with her father, traveling from Rome to Germany, from Italy to Ireland. And while Clary was with Valentine, Jonathan and Jocelyn moved from Washington to some obscure city in the Massachusetts.

But now Clary was back. Starting late- it was already well into September- she was ready to start her junior year, with Jonathan as a senior. Being the co-captain of the soccer team, Jon was popular. Clary didn't mind; she preferred to watch from the sidelines, only stepping in when needed.

She stepped out of the shower. Wringing her hair out, she loosely wrapped a short white towel around herself, using one hand to hold the ends together. Padding out of the bathroom and heading to her room, she heard the refrigerator door slam shut and a distinctly masculine voice. Jonathan, she thought, rolling her eyes. He could always eat as if he hadn't seen food in months. Reaching the ivory double French doors that lead to her room, yes, her family was that rich, she turned the handle. Then jiggled it. Refusing to budge, Clary finally threw up her hand in exasperation. Still clutching the towel, she bent down to examine the handle. It seemed to be jammed; she would need something to jab into it for it to become unstuck.

Sighing, she skimmed gracefully down the stairs. Turning the corner to the massive kitchen, she called out, "Hey, Jon? My bedroom door won't open; do you know where the screwdriver is? I really-"

She was abruptly cut off as she heard low whistles and a couple of voices muttering, "Damn."

Turning her head, she saw... guys. Way more than before she had left to go take a shower. There were around twelve of them, half of them with their jaws dropped and all of them staring at her soundlessly. Clary blinked. "Look at that. Wishing wells do work."

One of them snorted. He smirked at Clary in amusement. She glanced at him, giving him the once-over. Good Looking. Tall. Blond. Arrogant. Ass. All that passed through her mind in a flash, and she couldn't help the grin that crooked at the edge of her mouth.

"Like what you see?" he asked, his unnaturally golden eyes sparking mischievously.

"You wish," she shot back, her vivid green eyes challenging his. "Shit, Jon never told us about his hot girlfriend." This coming from an attractive guy with sandy brown hair and a splash of freckles.

At this Clary felt her blood boil and her face burn a bright crimson. She opened her mouth to start swearing at the boy but her brother beat her to it.

"MARCUS, WHAT THE _FUCK_?! THAT'S MY SISTER!" Jonathan came storming into the room, wedging himself through the small crowd and came to a stop in between Clary and the blond-haired boy. Jace, dude, what the hell are you doing with my sister? And seriously, Clary? What's with the towel?"

At that her face turned even brighter, and in return all the boys' mouths dropped open again. "She-she's your _sister_?" the boy-Marcus asked.

Clary was getting impatient. She sighed and turned to Jon. "Look, it's not my frickin' fault. You never told me you were bringing people over and my door got stuck and, you know what? Just forget it. _Where's the screwdriver_?"

Jon, too stunned to respond, just pointed at a cabinet well above her height of five feet. She rolled her eyes and tucked in the corner of her towel so that both of her hands were free. Trudging up to where the cabinet was, she was aware of all the eyes following her. Clary looked up at her new adversary- tall things. For the umpteenth time that day, she sighed. Then she jumped up in an attempt to reach the brass handle and failing miserably. She tried a few more times before pausing to hang her head.

After a few seconds, she turned and glared at the mass of testosterone. "A little help?" She couldn't keep the touch of sarcasm out of her voice.

Jace was the first to unfreeze. She smirked, which Clary realized was his signature move, but he swiftly walked over, deftly reached up and opened the cabinet, and pulled out a plain red screwdriver. He held it out to her, and she took grasp of it, but he didn't let go. Stooping down to her level so that they were face to face, Jace looked at her and held the object between them like a promise. A secret.

Clary looked at him for a beat. Then another. Finally she tugged the screwdriver out of his hold and smiled. "Thanks," she said, and she smiled, then turned and left, leaving them all standing in silence.

**JPOV**

Holy shit. Holy _shit_. That was the only thing going on in Jace's mind as he watched Jon's younger sister flounce out of the room. In only a towel. A towel that was short enough to show of the curves of her legs and- _goddmamit_. He stared after her, unable to say anything. All of a sudden, he was aware of Jon's menacing eyes boring holes into him. After all, who could blame him?

Jace was a player. He knew it, accepted it, hell, he was even proud of it. He was _captain of the soccer team_ , one of the best in New England. That in itself should have gotten him an endless supply of girls, and it did, but it wasn't just that.

He was a _god_. At least, everyone assumed he was. He was golden, literally. With his unruly fair hair and honey eyes, he was acutely aware of how much female attention he attracted. Especially with his body. How could anyone resist?

Apparently Clary could. Her beautiful green eyes had stared straight into his, and he was sure he had her hooked. Until she pulled away. A small smirk appeared at the side of her mouth. His signature smirk. For some reason this drove him crazy, and he had to fight to keep himself from kissing it away.

Jace Lightwood did not chase after girls. They came to him. And it was true that they never lasted more than a few days, never longer than a week. Some of them didn't even make it through the day; he was a kiss and leave kind of guy. He broke all of their hearts, but the thing was, he didn't really care. His popularity was never decimated, so why did it matter?

All of a sudden, he was jolted back to the present when Jon slapped the back of his head. Hard. "Dude, what the hell?" Jace asked, startled at the quick flash of pain.

Jon glared threateningly at him, a fierce scowl on his face. "What do you mean, 'what the hell?' You know what I'm talking about." Jace shrugged, nonchalant as ever. "You never actually said anything, and even thought it's sometimes believed otherwise, I am not a supernatural being that can read minds."

Before Jon could go completely off on him, Marcus, another teammate, stepped up. "Hey man, why didn't you ever tell us about your hot sister?"

Another few people murmured in agreement, nodding their heads. One guy, Will, one of the forwards and a junior, asked Jon eagerly, "You think you can hook us up?" The look on Jon's face now said enough, and Will shrank back in retreat with his hands raised in surrender.

For some reason this made Jace ball his hands into fists and clench his teeth. It took a moment for him to realize he was even doing it, but he relaxed and hoped no one noticed. Jon sure didn't because he was too busy trying not to explode.

He jabbed his finger wildly at all his teammates, his voice a growl as he spoke through his teeth. "I swear to God, if any of you even _touch_ her, I'll kill you. Got it? Because I swear, if I find out that one of you got anywhere near her, I'll- oh, hey, Clary."

At once his voice became modulated and calm. Jace turned his head to see Clary walked in, now unfortunately wearing clothes. Even so, they didn't cover up too much. She wore a pair of short white shorts, just barely touching her wrists when she walked. On top she had a plain blue tank top with her hair pulled into a loose ponytail, a few curls hanging loose around her face. Her bright hair contrasted her clothes, making it look like it wasn't on fire, but rather fire itself.

Head phones were stuffed into her ears, and she was singing along to P!nk. Completely ignoring the argument at play, she glided up to the fridge, still singing. And Jace was in awe. He had never heard a voice like hers. By all means, she wasn't the best singer he had ever heard, but it was filled with a sweetness and innocence he hadn't heard ever before. At odds with the lyrics that poured out of her mouth, her voice was smooth.

Struggling to appear normal, he pasted on his classic smile, the one that drove girls mad. _But not Clary._ He couldn't stop the little voice that chimed in his head; he couldn't block it out, no matter how hard he tried.

She opened the door of the fridge, bent down, _goddammit, enough with the bending down and the legs and_ \- pulled a Coke out of the drawer. Skipping lightly to the counter a few yards away, she hopped up on it gracefully and sat on the edge. Cracking the top noisily, she finally stopped singing so she could take a sip.

Jace swallowed thickly.

Finally looking at her audience, she blinked, and pretty brilliantly, said, "Hi." Clary probably hadn't meant for it to be anything more, just a simple greeting, plain and casual. But to Jace he couldn't help but notice the way her lips moves as she talked, how her feet swung gently as she kicked them back and forth...and how completely _wrong_ that was.

_He_ was not the one to go chasing after people. _He_ had plenty of people waiting. People that were plenty beautiful, like Kaelie, who always came running back, no matter how many times he pushed her away. He didn't need Clary. And even if he wanted her, Jon had threatened to kill him, which he didn't doubt in the slightest. Last time someone ate the last slice of pizza that he had claims, two chairs ended up across the room and a bloody nose ensued.

This was his _sister_. Somehow it seemed a little more important than a slice of pizza. There was no telling what he would to. Jace almost cared enough to be scared. But only almost.

Jon began to usher people out of the kitchen and into the living room, shooting warning glances every once in a while.

As Jace was ambling out of the room, Alec, his adopted brother sidled up to him. He had a smug smirk on his face. Always being able to read him better than most, Jace wasn't surprised. He knew exactly what Alec was thinking.

After his father died almost ten years ago, the Lightwoods had taken him in. Both Alec and Isabelle, his new brother and sister, had been wary at first, but eventually warmed up to him. His adoptive parents, Maryse and Robert had been kind to him, always supportive even when he had turned into an ass.

"Shut up," Jace muttered, shoving him so Alec almost stumbled into the doorframe. Alec was gay. At first it had weirded him out, but now it seemed natural to him. He had a very sparkly and very gay boyfriend named Magnus who felt the need to bedazzle rainbows on every article of clothing. Ever since they had started dating, Alec had seemed happy, but now he kept trying to set Jace up. With a "real girl", he'd said. "Not one of those glorified bitches with twenty pounds of makeup on their faces." At that Jace had laughed, but he knew Alec was talking about Kaelie.

Jace glanced back one last time. Clary was leaning back, one hand braced behind her on the countertop while the other one clutched the can of soda. She stared at the window with a small smile on her face, and he couldn't help but hope she was thinking about him.

**CPOV**

Clary had her ear pressed against the wall. " I swear to God, if any of you even touch her, I'll kill you..." she heard her brother trail off angrily.

She couldn't help but be mad. He had no say in who she wanted and who wanted her. This time, she wasn't going to sit back in the shadows. She was going to do something.

A smile appeared on her mouth. _Game on, big brother._

_Game on_.


	2. Meeting

JPOV

_Holy shit. Holy shit_. That was the only thing going on in Jace's mind as he watched Jon's younger sister flounce out of the room. In only a towel. A towel that was short enough to show of the curves of her legs and- goddammit. He stared after her, unable to say anything. All of a sudden, he was aware of Jon's menacing eyes boring holes into him. After all, who could blame him?

Jace was a player. He knew it, accepted it, _hell_ , he was even proud of it. He was captain of the soccer team, one of the best in New England. That in itself should have gotten him an endless supply of girls, and it did, but it wasn't just that.

He was a _god_. At least, everyone assumed he was. He was golden, literally. With his unruly fair hair and honey eyes, he was acutely aware of how much female attention he attracted. Especially with his body. How could anyone resist?

Apparently Clary could. Her beautiful green eyes had stared straight into his, and he was sure he had her hooked. Until she pulled away. A small smirk appeared at the side of her mouth. His signature smirk. For some reason this drove him crazy, and he had to fight to keep himself from kissing it away.

Jace Lightwood did not chase after girls. They came to him. And it was true that they never lasted more than a few days, never longer than a week. Some of them didn't even make it through the day; he was a kiss and leave kind of guy. He broke all of their hearts, but the thing was, he didn't really care. His popularity was never decimated, so why did it matter?

All of a sudden, he was jolted back to the present when Jon slapped the back of his head. Hard.

"Dude, what the hell?" Jace asked, startled at the quick flash of pain.

Jon glared threateningly at him, a fierce scowl on his face. "What do you mean, 'what the hell?' You know what I'm talking about."

Jace shrugged, nonchalant as ever. "You never actually said anything, and even thought it's sometimes believed otherwise, I am not a supernatural being that can read minds."

Before Jon could go completely off on him, Marcus, another teammate, stepped up. "Hey man, why didn't you ever tell us about your hot sister?"

Another few people murmured in agreement, nodding their heads. One guy, Will, one of the forwards and a junior, asked Jon eagerly, "You think you can hook us up?" The look on Jon's face now said enough, and Will shrank back in retreat with his hands raised in surrender.

For some reason this made Jace ball his hands into fists and clench his teeth. It took a moment for him to realize he was even doing it, but he relaxed and hoped no one noticed. Jon sure didn't because he was too busy trying not to explode.

He jabbed his finger wildly at all his teammates, his voice a growl as he spoke through his teeth. "I swear to God, if any of you even touch her, I'll kill you. Got it? Because I _swear_ , if I find out that one of you got anywhere near her, I'll- oh, hey, Clary."

At once his voice became modulated and calm. Jace turned his head to see Clary walked in, now unfortunately wearing clothes. Even so, they didn't cover up too much. She wore a pair of short white shorts, just barely touching her wrists when she walked. On top she had a plain blue tank top with her hair pulled into a loose ponytail, a few curls hanging loose around her face. Her bright hair contrasted her clothes, making it look like it wasn't on fire, but rather fire itself.

Head phones were stuffed into her ears, and she was singing along to P!nk. Completely ignoring the argument at play, she glided up to the fridge, still singing.

And Jace was in awe. He had never heard a voice like hers. By all means, she wasn't the best singer he had ever heard, but it was filled with a sweetness and innocence he hadn't heard ever before. At odds with the lyrics that poured out of her mouth, her voice was smooth.

Struggling to appear normal, he pasted on his classic smile, the one that drove girls mad. But not Clary. He couldn't stop the little voice that chimed in his head; he couldn't block it out, no matter how hard he tried.

She opened the door of the fridge, bent down, goddammit, enough with the bending down and the legs and- pulled a Coke out of the drawer. Skipping lightly to the counter a few yards away, she hopped up on it gracefully and sat on the edge. Cracking the top noisily, she finally stopped singing so she could take a sip.

Jace swallowed thickly.

Finally looking at her audience, she blinked, and pretty brilliantly, said, "Hi." Clary probably hadn't meant for it to be anything more, just a simple greeting, plain and casual. But to Jace he couldn't help but notice the way her lips moves as she talked, how her feet swung gently as she kicked them back and forth...and how completely wrong that was.

He was not the one to go chasing after people. He had plenty of people waiting. People that were plenty beautiful, like Kaelie, who always came running back, no matter how many times he pushed her away. He didn't need Clary. And even if he wanted her, Jon had threatened to kill him, which he didn't doubt in the slightest. Last time someone ate the last slice of pizza that he had claims, two chairs ended up across the room and a bloody nose ensued.

This was his sister. Somehow it seemed a little more important than a slice of pizza. There was no telling what he would to. Jace almost cared enough to be scared. But only almost.

Jon began to usher people out of the kitchen and into the living room, shooting warning glances every once in a while.

As Jace was ambling out of the room, Alec, his adopted brother sidled up to him. He had a smug smirk on his face. Always being able to read him better than most, Jace wasn't surprised. He knew exactly what Alec was thinking.

After his father died almost ten years ago, the Lightwoods had taken him in. Both Alec and Isabelle, his new brother and sister, had been wary at first, but eventually warmed up to him. His adoptive parents, Maryse and Robert had been kind to him, always supportive even when he had turned into an ass.

"Shut up," Jace muttered, shoving him so Alec almost stumbled into the doorframe.

Alec was gay. At first it had weirded him out, but now it seemed natural to him. He had a very sparkly and very gay boyfriend named Magnus who felt the need to bedazzle rainbows on every article of clothing. Ever since they had started dating, Alec had seemed happy, but now he kept trying to set Jace up. With a "real girl", he'd said. "Not one of those glorified bitches with twenty pounds of makeup on their faces." At that Jace had laughed, but he knew Alec was talking about Kaelie.

Jace glanced back one last time. Clary was leaning back, one hand braced behind her on the counter top while the other one clutched the can of soda. She stared at the window with a small smile on her face, and he couldn't help but hope she was thinking about him.

* * *

 

CPOV

Clary had her ear pressed against the wall. " I swear to God, if any of you even touch her, I'll kill you..." she heard her brother trail off angrily.

She couldn't help but be mad. He had no say in who she wanted and who wanted her. This time, she wasn't going to sit back in the shadows. She was going to do something.

A smile appeared on her mouth. _Game on, big brother._

_Game on._


	3. New...school? Or new life?

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Mortal Instruments**

* * *

 

CPOV

She was dying. A heavy weight blanketed her, pushing the air out of her lungs. She struggled against the pressure, but her arms were pinned down to her sides. Panic started to take over. Thrashing wildly, she was about to scream in terror when the strange force disappeared. With a gasp she shot straight up, hyperventilating.

Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Clary looked around her room. Dozens of posters were plastered to her walls, the vibrant purple and orange underneath barely visible.

At the end of her bed sat Jonathan, fighting to hold in his laughter. He lost. Cracking up, he clutched at his stomach before toppling onto her bed face first.

"You. Freaking. _Asshole_." she growled, accentuating each words with a pound to his back. "I can't believe you!"

"Hey, I'm just evening the score," he said, referring to the day before. As soon as everyone had left she had burst into hysterical laughter, imitating how her brother acted around his friends. According to Clary he was a,"douchey idiot with an  deeper voice and testosterone pumped up to the max." Jon had pretended not to hear.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Come on," Jon rolled his eyes, "get dressed. Your first day! We have to leave in forty-five minutes." He chucked a pillow at her already mussed up hair and strolled out of the room.

Clary rolled her eyes before moving to get dressed and brush her teeth. She dusted on a minimal amount of makeup, the slightest hint of blush, a narrow ring of dark eyeliner, a coat of mascara, and a pale beige eye shadow. At the last minute she smeared on a pink gloss, smacking her lips together twice.

Bacon. Bacon bacon bacon bacon _bacon_. The thought that ran on repeat in her head as she bounced down the stairs. Sure enough, there was entire plate full on the kitchen counter, and at the end sat Jon, happily eating it all.

"Ah," she couldn't help but shriek. Making an impulsive dive, she lunged forward and pulled the plate out of his reach. Dancing out of the way, she laughed when she saw Jon's look of horror.

"That was my breakfast!" he yelled indignantly, but he didn't move to stop her. Instead, he slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"Fine," he said. "But only because Mom's not here. She left pretty early this morning- told me to tell you she'll be back late- probably around eleven or twelve." Jocelyn was a high profile lawyer. Sure it meant her family was completely and utterly filthy rich, but it also meant little face time. With unreasonable hours seven days a week.

Clary rolled her eyes. This wasn’t new. It was one of the main reasons she agreed to go with her father so easily. She loved her mother, but she had always wished she could see her more. But by now, Clary was used to it.

“Whatever,” the redhead mumbled, her mouth filled with bacon.

“Let’s go,” he insisted, snatching the now empty plate out of her hands and grabbing his keys. “We should probably get there early so you can figure out where everything is.” He grabbed his backpack. Together they walked to the door, and Clary grabbed her plain brown satchel off the hook. Immediately her shoulder bent from the weight of it before she straightened herself out. Even before she had any classes, her bag was filled with things, mainly her sketchbooks and pencils she carried everywhere she went.

Making their way outside, she pouted. “Why can’t I drive my own car?” she whined, but she meant it. Her car was probably one of her most valuable possessions. Cherry red and incredibly sleek, her convertible was a sort of combined guilt gift her parents had gotten her after the divorce.

“Because,” he said, leaning on his slightly more reasonable silver BMW, “we Frays will survive the apocalypse. And if that means sharing the same car to preserve gas and limit the amount of pollution we are creating, that’s what we will do.”

Clary snorted in amusement, but she conceded and hopped into the passenger seat of her brother’s car. The interior was pristine; he never ever let anyone eat in his car. Hell, he had two of those pine tree shaped air fresheners hanging from his mirror. She suppressed a grimace. Her brother was such a _dork_.

“Buckle up,” he commanded her.

“Why? Is your terrible driving going to kill me? Wait. No. Don’t tell me. I don’t even want to know.”

She buckled her seatbelt. Finally they pulled out of the driveway, heading to their school.

 _This is the beginning of an exceptionally terrible horror movie,_ Clary mused. I’ll be fine. I _’ll be fine I’ll be fine I’ll be fine._

* * *

 

JPOV

"Izzy! Hurry the hell up! Why do you need an hour and half to pick out clothes and do your makeup?" Izzy poked her head out of the bathroom door.

"And do my hair. It's a very precise science." She spoke in a matter of fact tone.

Jace snorted. "A science, huh? Must be why you're failing Chemistry." He heard something heavy thump against the door. "What? All I'm saying is if you spent a little more time with your geeky weasel of a boyfriend and a little less time in front of a mirror, you might actually learn something. Think about that." When he said it, his tone was sarcastic, but he actually meant what he said. If only her boyfriend didn't have to be _Simon_.

"Whatever." Izzy flung the door open and clacked across the floor in her six inch midnight black pumps. A skintight short black skirt was glued to her long legs and a flowing white blouse hung from her shoulders. Jace, on the other hand, wore a plain white t-shirt and worn jeans.

Alec walked into the room and rolled his eyes. "Really, Isabelle? It's school, not the prom." Alec was the most conservative out of the three of them; he wore a dark sweater and a pair of khakis.

"Please," emphasized scornfully with a flip of her perfectly curled hair. "Wearing this to the prom would be like wearing a trash bag walking down the aisle."

Alec and Jace made eye contact in a silent moment of manly consolidation. Izzy pointed her perfectly manicured finger back and forth between the two of them. "I saw that. Don't think you can pass anything by me. Now, let's go. Jace, you're driving. Shotgun!" And with that she opened the front doors dramatically before walking out into the rising sun.

The brothers both chuckled but didn't argue. Alec fell into step beside Jace. "So, you going for Jon's baby sister? She's the new flavor of the week, right? Or maybe that's too extreme? So what is it? Choice of the day? Pick for a few hours?"

For some reason, this rubbed Jace in the wrong way. He bristled in irritation but tried to play it off. Jace knew Alec was right, but he didn't have to say it like that. "No way, did you even see that girl? Key word being girl. She's a child! What is she; a freshman? Sophomore? Girl's got nothing up top or down low. _So_ not my type."

This, at least, was true. All of his girls were tall with legs miles long and busty. If that's what you wanted to call it. And Jace normally went for blonds, not redheads. But something about this girl, about Clary, that put him off. And he refused to be sucked in.

They reached the car. " _Nooo_ , she's a junior like Izzy and believe it or not, she actually has feelings. She's been living with her father for two years and she's an artist."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. How do you even know all this?" Jace stared at him.

Alec gave a half-shrug. "I talked to Jon." All of a sudden, a deafening blast blared through the air, making them both flinch. It was Izzy, leaning over to the driver side of Jace's Volvo with her hand pressed firmly down on the horn.

"Come on you guys! We're going to be late!"

* * *

 

Seven minutes later they were pulling into Alicante Regional High School. Even though the school was public, it was considered one of the best in the state. Ivy crawled up one side of the building while the other was completely bare. A giant green lawn surrounded the school bordering the vast parking lot.

An entire portion of the parking lot was dedicated to the students. Already it was filled with students milling about and talking to one another. Jace pulled into his usual parking spot; no one dared take Jace Lightwood's spot.

As soon as the three of them stepped out of the car, Jace could almost feel the topic of everyone's attention shift. He smirked.

He opened his mouth, about to say something to his siblings when all of a sudden They

Were

There.

Jon and Clary. Clary and Jon. She stood there, looking at him with those eyes. Jace couldn't help but look at her, but unlike Isabelle, she wasn't aware of how completely _amazing_ she looked. With black combat boots, dark wash skinny jeans, a shimmering emerald green tank top and a worn leather jacket, she looked beautiful. Beautiful and deadly. _Not a good combination_ , Jace thought to himself. But he couldn't help but keep looking.

He _thought_ she was wearing makeup. He couldn't really tell though, because it wasn't pasted on like everyone else. Her brilliant red hair hung in naturally wild curls down to just past her shoulders.

A true Jace Lightwood smile automatically rearranged itself on his face. Jon spoke up first.

"Clary, you met Jace, this is Alec and Isabelle, his-"

"Siblings," Clary finished for him, looking at the trio intensely. "They're siblings. But you," she said pointing at Jace, "you, not by blood."

"And you know this how?" Jace questioned, attempting to hide his surprise.

"I'm psychic." She said this with a completely straight face, and Jace had started to question her sanity when she grinned. "Kidding, I'm just good at reading people."

Isabelle stepped up. "Really?" she asked, challenging her. "And what can you tell about me?"

Clary studied her face intently for a few seconds before replying in an even tone, "Popular. Extremely so. You have a boyfriend, but he's nothing like you. You like attention."

Isabelle blinked in shock. But Clary wasn't done there. She turned her cutting stare to Alec, who squirmed uncomfortably. "You. Loner, but not entirely. Gay?" Alec's eyebrows shot up. "You have a boyfriend though, don't you? Haven't been together long, maybe three, four months?"

"Four next week," he confessed, looking more and more confused.

Jace crossed his arms. "What about me?" He meant for it to come out disdainfully, but in reality he was curious.

"I'm not going to answer that." Her tone was definitive. Confident. She turned to her brother, who had been standing to the side casually. "I'm gonna go get my schedule; I'll see you later, ok?"

Without waiting for a reply, she walked off, seeming utterly unaware of the people that were staring at her. The watched her go in whispers, their own clusters murmuring about what her relation could be to Jace and the others.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Alec turned on Jon. "What the hell, man? You told her about me?" He said it with anger, but only mildly. Alec had never been one for strong emotions. Jon held his hands up. "

Hey, I never said anything. Like she said, she reads people. Always been like that- the family freak." He grinned.

Jace stood up straight and uncrossed his arms. "Alright, let's go. Into the dungeon." He gestured dramatically at the pristine building behind him.

And they walked. Into the dungeon.

CPOV

Clary walked into the school. After talking to the secretary and receiving her schedule, she walked into a wall of flesh. Extremely tall, muscled flesh.

She looked up. In front of her stood a guy, one of the ones from her house the other day. Brown hair and freckles. She remembered seeing him in the crowd, but she didn't remember him ever saying anything.

"Hey, I'm Marcus" he remarked, smiling warmly at her. He stuck his hand out. She liked that. Liked that he could act civil, unlike most of the idiots in this place.

She took his hand. "Hi," she beamed at him. It also didn't hurt that he was hot. So. Fucking. Hot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know what you guys think! I just joined this site, and I also have a Fanfiction.net account, where this story is up to Chapter 16. I will post all of them and keep you guys updated!


	4. First

JONPOV

He was worried about her. I mean, two years learning, but not actually _learning_ , that outsider artist vibe she had, and the blunt take she had on everything and everyone; she never held anything back. Well, at least not normally. Just look at hat happened ten minutes ago! Somehow it didn't seem ethical for someone to ask another person they just met if they were gay. Well sure, everything she said had been on point, but it wasn't... the most tactical plan of attack.

He was walking with the Lightwoods, about to turn the corner in the hallway to get to his locker, when he heard a familiar tinkling laugh. Jon froze immediately, sticking his hand out to halt the others.

There it was again- the giggle. Jon wasn't sure he had ever heard that kind of laugh originate from Clary. Sure, he had heard her laugh before, hey; he was even there when she laughed so hard she started snorting uncontrollably. But _this_ laugh, _this_ Clary was unfamiliar to him.

Because she was _flirting._ The thought alone was almost enough to make him nauseous. He held his finger up to his lips, silencing the already quiet group.  Tilting his head, he tried to make out the conversation amid all the other ones around him.

"...Let me see!" Guy.

"No! Wait! Give it back! Ah, stop!" Definitely Clary.

At this point Jon couldn't stand it anymore, and as casually as possible, he strode up, but stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him.

Clary was clinging on to Marcus' back with her legs wrapped around his waist. Marcus, on the other hand, was stumbling around like an idiot trying to see, probably because Clary was using one hand to claw at his eyes. With her other hand she was reaching for a folded piece of paper in Marcus' grasp, desperation and slight amusement written on her face.

She grunted in frustration, reaching even farther and almost toppling in the process. Everyone was staring at them, including Jace.

Yeah, Jon had noticed the way that Jace stared at her, but he knew better than to act on it. He _better_ know better than to do anything.

Jace shoved his fisted hands in his pockets while both Alec and Isabelle mumbled excuses before skirting off to who knows where. Jon, however, jumped into action.

He half power-walked over to the two and easily pried Clary off of his teammates back. She struggled in his arms until he put her down. Marcus spun around with a look of surprise, and Clary seized that as a moment of opportunity. With a final lunge, she snatched the paper out of his hand and hid it behind her back.

"What the hell is going on?"

"He tried to steal my drawing," she blurted out, just as Marcus said, "Nothing."

Jon sighed in exasperation. " _That's_ what this was all about? One of your pictures?" Clary scowled. "Oh no. Excuse me. It's a depiction of your innermost thoughts and feelings that shouldn't be displayed for the entire world to see. Without, of course, your permission." He bowed deeply.

Clary looked around at the accumulating crowd of students. An evil glint started to grow in her eye. Jon knew that look. Before he could do anything, though, Clary had already begun. She flung her arms around Jon melodramatically, crying, "Oh, big brother! I'm so sorry! I never should've doubted you! You were right! That girl really _is_ way out of you league!" She pointed out at random a blond girl standing to the side.

Everyone burst into laughter at this, but there were also several gasps of confusion at Clary's first statement. The news spread like a wildfire.

"Jonathan Fray has a sister?"

"...Why didn't any of us ever know about her?"

"Is she _dating_ Marcus? She's hot..."

At that one, Jon grunted in distaste. His cheeks started to burn though, and he hated that they did.

"Alright. Clary, please stop talking. Jace, just bring her to her class; show her around. I'll catch up with you." He was making things up as he went, making split second decisions.

Jace didn't argue, he simply grabbed Clary and towed her in the opposite direction down the hallways, ignoring her cries of protest. Eventually she gave up and went limp, probably trying to make it harder for Jace, but he acted like he didn't notice; he calmly just dragged her along.

Finally Jon turned his back on them, ready to give Marcus a piece of his mind, when he realized Marcus wasn't even there any more. Realizing he must've slipped away while Clary left with Jace, he looked around at his dwindling audience. Even though the bell was about to ring in seconds, people still stayed, wondering if anything else worth gossiping about. With a dismissive wave in their general direction, he sauntered off to his first class.

Calculus. Jon's worst enemy, not to mention their devil spawn of a teacher Mr. Blackthorn, With his hunched over back, wrinkled old skin, and glasses lenses two inches thick (that one may have been exaggerated, Jon admitted), he looked like he should be in a retirement home, not teaching a rowdy group of teenagers. One thing that lessened the torture of the class is that he didn't have to suffer through it alone.

Jace was in the class too. Together they sat in the back of the class, never paying any attention but always managing to get by with passing grades.

He made it into the room just as the bell sounded. Making his way over to his usual seat, he saw a glint out of the corner of his eye.

There sat Clary at one of the desks, talking to Jace.

 _What the hell?_ Clary shouldn't've been in this class; she was a junior. He walked over. "Clary, _what_ are you doing here?"

She held her schedule out to him with two fingers. "Compliments of our lovely legal guardians." She smiled wistfully.

He snatched the paper out of her hand and scanned his eyes over it quickly. _Oh, no no no no no. This is_ not _happening._

There were eight total blocks of time in their school day. Lunch counted as one, thank God, but their core classes were math, English, science, history, and gym. Both of the other two options for classes were open electives- classes that could be chosen based on interest.

So why was _this_ happening? Four classes? _Four_ classes with a junior who happened to be her sister?

He loved her. There was no doubt about that. But in all fairness, what older brother wanted to spend his time around his baby sister when he was with his friends?

Clary's scornful laugh broke him out of his reverie. "Yah, I didn't ask for it either. You couldn't at least try to pretend like you're happy?" She cocked her eyebrow at him.

"How is this even possible? You shouldn't even be able to take some of these courses." He waved his hand helplessly at her schedule.

Jace decided to speak up. "Apparently Red's a genius. Aced all the preliminary tests and decided that one of them had inaccurate information," he drawled lazily.

Clary's tiny fist slammed into his arm. "Shut up," she hissed.

"Ouch," he pouted, rubbing his arm in mock-hurt. "What did I do?"

She looked as if she was about to answer.

JPOV

The tortoise of their teacher chose that time to hobble into the room. "Take your seats!" he barked out in his crusty British accent, lowering himself slowly onto his chair behind his desk. Jace and Jon made their way to their usual seats wordlessly as Clary turned to face the front of the room and pulled out a plain spiral notebook and a ballpoint pen.

As Mr. Blackthorn launched into another mind numbing lecture, the boys did what they normally did. They sat back and watched everything. Or rather, everyone. Namely, Clary. Her pen flew across the page, stopping every once in a while to brush her hair out of her face.

He stared. Stared so much someone would think he was a stalker. He forced himself to look away. Jon might catch on.

"Dude," he whispered loudly. "What's he talkin' about?" Jace nudged Jon with his arm.

"Are you kidding me? How the hell am I supposed to know? Just grabbed my sister's notes." He gesticulated to where Clary was sitting two desks over, still scratching into her notebook furiously.

Jace complied. Stretching his long arm across some random girl's desk he pulled Clary's notebook from underneath her hands. She whipped her head around to see Jace. Glaring at him, she mouthed angrily, "Give it back."

He smirked. Leaning back, he finally looked at the page in his hand.

It wasn't what he was expecting. Covering the entire page was a sketch of city in the distance. Close up were rows of fields and trees and countryside, but a gorgeous cluster of buildings. Old churches with understated arches could be seen.

He was stunned. In less than half an hour an amazing rendition was drawn on three hole lined paper and a simple black pen.

"What is it? Come on lemme see." Jon tugged the book out of Jace's hands, took one look at it and snorted. "Of course. Typical Clary."

She finally snapped. Pushing her chair back it made a loud scraping noise that made everyone around her wince. She stood and took a quick step to where they sat and grabbed her notebook back. Trying to sit back down without Mr. Blackthorn noticing, he edged back to her seat.

Too late.

"Who are you?" She blinked at her, finally realizing the new student in her class.

"Hi, I'm Clary. Clary Fray. I just started here today." The last sentence came out as a question.

"Fray? You wouldn't happen to be related to this bloke, would you?" He pointed his dry erase marker at Jon, who smiled angelically back at him.

Clary was looking more and more flustered. Jace found it surprisingly adorable. "Um, yes sir. That's my brother."

"Your brother, eh? So tell me- are you at least as smart as he is? I mean, it shouldn't be difficult." Mr. Blackthorn cackled.

Jace should have been surprised at how horribly he was treating one of his own students, but he wasn't. Here he was, blatantly insulting Jon, but Jon just smiled, unaffected by it all.

"Tell him, Clary," he urged her. "Show him what you can do."

She shot him a nervous look, and then glanced flittingly at all the other students that were now gawking at her.

"Well, Miss Fray, can you tell me the solution to this equation?" He stepped aside to reveal a complicated problem involving lots of x's and y's and radical signs.

Clary stared intently, here eyes flicking back and forth. It reminded him of not even an hour ago when she had looked at he and his siblings. Her gaze was entirely emotionless. Analytical. Not even five seconds passed before she replied.

"X equals one third plus or minus the square root of seventeen over nine." Utterly confident.

Old Blackthorn's eyes bugged wide and mouth opened slightly in surprise. He took a second to compose himself. "That- that's correct."

A chorus of gasps once again echoed around. Still impassive, she turned and sat down. Out of the corner of his eye, though, Jace saw a miniscule smile form at the edge of her mouth. He couldn't help but smile too.

CPOV

Just as Clary was walking out of her first class, which had gone splendidly, by the way, a guy came up to her, one that she had noticed at the front of the room. Spiky black brown hair and glittered clothes, she instantly knew he was gay, even before he opened his mouth.

She had nothing against gays. In fact, one of her best friends from before her family had moved was gay. Or at least, she thought he was. He never went out with girls, so she was so sure.

Until he asked her out, that was. She was shocked to say the least. He was her best friend. But she couldn't very well say no, could she? So they went out, if only for a few days, but they did.

Then it got awkward. They "broke up", and before they could patch things up entirely, she had left with her dad. Simon was one of her best friends, and she regretted never making things up to him.

She looked up to see the guy still smiling at her. "Hey," he said, friendly. "I'm Magnus. What you did back there? With Old Man Blackthorn? Genius!" he chortled. "Absolutely brilliant!"

Clary smiled. "Thanks. I'm Clary. You're Alec's boyfriend?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, in a sort of happy confusion. "How'd you know that?"

"Just a lucky guess." She smiled inwardly. _The perks of being a psychic._

Playing up the psychic thing was something she and her brother did when they were young. Their parents always told them to cut it out, but they never listened.

Magnus and Clary started walking together to their next class. "You're gorgeous, you know. I'd kill to have that awesome hair."

She laughed. "Are you kidding me? Half of the time it looks like I just rubbed a balloon all over my heads then ran through a tornado."

They continued to banter back and forth when Clary heard a quiet gasp.

"Clary?" the voice whispered, light as a feather.

She froze and stiffened. That voice she would recognize anywhere. Her own shook with barely contained emotion as she replied. "August 18th."

If it was him, then he would know. And he did. Without hesitation he shot back, "Percy Jackson's birthday. Burnt blue pancakes and a movie marathon."

Clary shuddered, a countless amount of emotions running through her. She turned around, impossibly slow.

The eyes that stared back at her were familiar to her as her own.

"Simon?" she whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

CPOV

_"Simon?" she whispered._

Simon broke into a full-blown grin as Clary flung herself at him. "Oh my God! Oh my God oh my god oh my god," she breathed, clutching the back of his shaggy head.

Simon wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hey, Clare, " he said, smiling.

"I missed you," and at that tears started to form in her eyes. The moment was soon ruined as a piercing voice rang out into the air.

"Why are you hugging _my boyfriend?_ " It was Isabelle, walking down the hallway at an impressive speed, considering the shoes she was wearing.

Clary raised and eyebrow at Simon. " _You're_ dating Isabelle Lightwood? What happened to sitting in your AV buddies' basements and playing World of Warcraft?"

"Hey!" he protested indignantly, then smiled sheepishly. "Ok, ok, I may still play once in a while," and Clary rolled her eyes. "But I've reformed! It's not as bad as before! Swear," he said, placing his right hand over his heart.

"So Simon," Isabelle butted in gracelessly, "how do you know Jon's little sister?"

"Simon and _Jon's little sister,_ " Clary emphasized, "go way back; we were best friends back in elementary and middle school." she smiled fondly at the memory.

Isabelle seemed taken aback; clearly this wasn't the answer she was expecting. "Oh, well, it's nice to know Simon actually had _friends_ before he moved here." Both girls laughed in a first time display of friendship.

"Hey!" Simon yelled, obviously offended.

Isabelle, _Izzy,_ grinned. "Come on C," apparently Clary's new nickname, "I'll show you to your next class. Whatd'ya got?"

Clary fumbled with her now folded up schedule in her back pocket. She unfolded it and scanned the paper quickly before saying, "Gym," she replied, silently praying that she didn't arrive during some God-awful segment. Like football.

Izzy's eyes brightened in cheerfulness. "Us too!" She linked her arm through Simon's and Clary stifled a laugh. "Let's go!" she hollered, tugging poor Simon along towards the gym.

The three of them entered the gym and immediately Clary's sense of smell was attacked by the scent of chemicals. She saw the fresh gleam of the newly lacquered floor covered with boundary lines for different sports. Wooden bleachers lined the outside of the gym. Four metal poles were evenly spaced in one line across the middle of the floor. In between the poles were two nets.

Volleyball. Clary had never played volleyball in her life. She knew the basic rules sure, but an actual game? _Shoot me now,_ she thought.

* * *

 

 

"Yes!" Clary pumped her fist and high-fived a guy on her team. Her team was _dominating_ everyone else's. Mainly because of her.

Who could've known she'd be so _damn_ good at this? Certainly not her. Simon was exceptionally grateful he was on her team because, "I'd rather not end up being one of your bowling pins," referring to the time when she had spiked the ball directly onto Izzy's head.

Five minutes later they were out of gym class, sitting at a long lunch table, and Izzy was clutching her head.

"Damn, C. For someone so tiny you sure can pack a punch." She moaned. A piece of pizza lay untouched below her.

Clary couldn't help but giggle. "Sorry, Iz. You really should've been paying attention." It was true. She had been too busy making eyes- _gag,_ Clary thought- at Simon to actually try. She took a bite of her apple.

At their table sat Simon, a pretty brown-haired girl named Maia and her boyfriend Jordan, Aline, a short Asian girl, and Magnus, who wouldn't shut his blabbering mouth. At first she was confused as to why Magnus wasn't sitting with his boyfriend, but then she realized that bad things happened when Magnus was given sugar. And all he had for lunch was a bag of Skittles. After a while she had learned to tune him out. It was a sort of adaptation, necessary for survival for the fear of facing insanity.

A short distance away sat the others, Alec, Jace and Jonathan, and the rest of their soccer team, far enough so they couldn't be heard at a normal volume, but close enough to be heard if someone spoke up.

"So Simon," Clary started, swallowing a bit of apple, "why'd you move here? Here of all people? And didn't you ever recognize Jonathan?"

"Oh, my mom transferred about a year ago. And Jonathan? Hell, Clary, you know I never paid attention to him. All jocks look the same to me." He shrugged.

That, at least, was true. She and Simon spent almost ten years going to school with the same people and he honestly only knew about forty percent of their names.

The table started bantering back and forth, making plans to hang out that night at the Lightwoods' when the heard the same voice from that morning.

Marcus. "Hey, Clary!" He walked toward her smoothly.

"Marcus, " she said, forcing a smile.

"Fancy seeing you here, stranger," he smiled in his arrogant way. Not as arrogant as Jace, admittedly, but it was still high up on the list of cocky guys she had met.

"Oh yeah? And why is that?" she asked coyly, tilting her head. She pretended not to notice the stares from the rest of her table and the ways her brother and his friends acted casual but listened in.

"Because I'm not even in this lunch," and he grinned. Their school divided their lunches into three times to accommodate for all the students.

"Well, congratulations. When you fail Chemistry, at least we'll know why." Marcus' smile grew and he sat down on the bench of the table, facing her. Simons's face screwed up as Marcus' back was now faced toward him. A small smile emerged on her face because of it, but it was misinterpreted.

A primal desire grew in his eyes and he placed his hand on Clary's shoulder. She felt everyone suddenly tense in surprise. Simon, in disgust, Isabelle in an almost giddy fashion, and Jonathan, in a barely managed anger. Fighting the urge to whack his meaty hand off of her, she smiled again, this time much more tightly.

Sure, she had liked him at first. He was just so _charming_ and proper and, let's be honest, ridiculously good-looking. Then he had taken her drawing. Now that was where it had all started going downhill.

No one touched her artwork. That was the number one rule if you didn't want Clary to viciously attack you. Then there was Jace. He had taken her drawing, gotten her in trouble with that old dude, and was a complete ass.

So why couldn't he hate him? Jace was the epitome of all the things she hated about a guy. All right, minus the whole looking like Hercules times ten. But she couldn't find it in herself to dislike him. She sure as hell wasn't going to admit she had a crush on him, hey, she wasn't even sure she liked the guy. But she didn't hate him. And that just _sucked._

"SO," Marcus, randomly blurted, and for the first time she realized he was _scared._ And then she knew what was about to happen. _No. NO. NO!_ She was about to come up with an excuse before he started up again.

"I was wondering whether you wanted to go out tonight?" His voice cracked near the end and Isabelle snickered.

"Ah..." she fumbled for a response. The little imaginary light bulb went off over her head. "Oh, actually, I already have plans; we're all going to meet up tonight at Izzy's, right guys?" She looked at them expectantly.

They all mumbled yeses and Izzy looked like she was about to burst into hysterical laughter any second. Her face was an alarming shade of red.

"Oh, so you guys mind if I drop by tonight then?" They guy was relentless, and they very well couldn't say no, could they?

The affirmative sounds they made were much less enthusiastic this time around.

"Great. I'll see you guys tonight, yeah?" With that he turned and headed for the doors, both hands stuffed into his jean pockets.

As soon as the doors clicked shut, Clary set her head down on the table and groaned. It didn't take long. Not even two seconds Izzy's laughter rang through the room. She tried to speak between her amusement.

"Oh... my God. You...you should've seen... YOUR FACE!" Izzy now had her head down too, resting on her arms as she tried to control herself.

Jonathan was suddenly there, after watching from the sidelines the entire time. She glared up at him.

"Thanks for the assist, by the way."

"Oh, come on, Clary, he's a teammate! What kind of person would I be if I didn't give him a fighting chance?" His teasing tone didn't match his tense posture with his arms crossed.

"Apparently he's coming over tonight," she explained exasperated. She already knew that he was going to be there.

"The more the merrier," he half sang, and Clary shoved him while still sitting down, causing her to almost tip over.

She turned back to her group of friends. Izzy beamed evilly, which seemed like an oxymoron to Clary. "So," she said. "You ready for a makeover?"

* * *

 

 

JPOV

She was in his car. He couldn't help but be acutely aware of exactly where he sat, every time she moves, every time she breathed.

 _Woah. Stalker alert._ Jace chided himself silently.

She and Izzy sat in the backseat, giggling about something. Alec and Jace sat up front silently while the radio played quietly in the background.

They were all headed home; Jace and Alec because they had nothing better to do, Izzy and Clary so they could "prepare" for the night. Jace knew preparing was girl talk for trying on thirty different outfits and gossiping. He felt mildly repulsed at the idea, but even more he had a fascination for what Clary was thinking.

He couldn't help himself; there way something fundamentally immoral about the way he thought of this girl. Something was entirely wrong with the way this girl acted; at first she liked Marcus, and it had almost killed him. Then, when they were at lunch, it took everything in him not to walk out those doors. But then, then he had seen Clary's face, her green eyes sparking in disguised fury and her lip curling in disgust. At that he wanted to laugh out loud like Izzy had, but he stopped himself just in time. Instead, he had smirked and thrown in a jack-assy comment about Marcus wanting Jon's baby sister.

But he, _he_ was the one who wanted her. Even if he refused to admit it.

 _But you just did,_ the little, but extremely sexy voice in his head pealed. _Shut up._ His fist clenched the steering wheel as they pulled onto their driveway.

As soon as they were in the house, Izzy dragged Clary up to her room, talking all the way about what kind of bra she should wear.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

 

IPOV

Frustration. It licked up though Isabelle for the millionth time that hour as she watched Clary look at herself in the mirror. A baby frown appeared on the edges of her mouth and she sighed.

"I don't know, Izzy," she trailed off, uncertain. Clary looked down at herself. She was dressed in a bright blue dress that just reached mid-thigh. It offset her hair in a way that made it look like fire. Blue for water, red for fire.

"Come on, C! You look a-mazing! Everyone'll be drooling over you tonight, everyone except for Simon, of course."

Clary sighed. "Isabelle, don't you have anything less... revealing?" eyeing the plunging neckline in the mirror. "We all know; I'm a flat-chested midget ( **from actual book COB),** but do we really need to flaunt it?"

Isabelle let out a loud, aggravated breath. "Fine, cm'ere. I'll find you something. Clary stripped off her dress to reveal a dark blue lace bra and panties, pushed upon her by Isabelle. She pulled on a t-shirt, and Isabelle went to rifle through her cluttered walk-in closet.

She stepped over small mountains of shoes, heaps of cloths, and price tags all over. Digging through four piles, she finally found what she was looking for, and she reemerged from her expedition.

"Here, " she said, and she threw the fabric at Clary. "Go change," she commanded.

"Yes sir," Clary saluted before marching into Isabelle's connected bathroom.

This was impossible. They'd been at it for hours, and yet they couldn't find something "suitable" for her to wear.

She was probably just nervous. And she had every right to be; any girl would be if they had the likes of both Jace and Marcus staring her down.

She couldn't help but have been amused when Marcus confronted Clary at lunch. He was hot, sure, but one of the biggest manwhores in existence.

Then there was Jace. More of a player. She saw how he looked at Cary when he thought she wasn't looking, and Isabelle thought it was adorable. Both she and Alec thought it was time for him to get someone real.

Finally Clary came out of the bathroom to stand in from of the full-length mirror once again. She appraised herself warily before smiling.

"I approve."

Isabelle squealed. She _did_ look amazing. Black leather pants, a form-fitting blue shirt with a black belt, and short ankle boots made up her outfit. A few silver bangles and dangly earring complimented the ensemble.

Her makeup looked _fantastic_ too, if Isabelle said so herself. Dark and mysterious yet beautiful and innocent, she looked...

"Perfect," Isabelle voiced out loud. Clary blushed.

Soon after they both heard the front door open and multiple voices float up the stairs.

"Show time," she exclaimed grabbing Clary by the wrist and bringing her downstairs.

* * *

 

 

His reaction was priceless. Jace's eyes bugged wide before he adjusted his expression into a more neutral one.

Already in the house was Magnus, Simon, who was gawking at Isabelle, she noted with a smug feeling, Maia, and Jordan. Jonathan and Marcus had yet to arrive.

Five minutes later they were sitting in a circle on the ground in the living room. Isabelle voiced what they were all thinking.

"So. Who's up for some truth or dare?"

 


End file.
